


Speculation

by Whatisalilac



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Post-Game, Spoilers, self-indulgent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:28:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatisalilac/pseuds/Whatisalilac
Summary: Adjutant Akande was a woman with many sides to her. Unfortunately, she disappeared before anyone could know a side of her but the one she always put forward.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Speculation

The Captain looked through the glass at the Mechanical below. They’d squared off with their fair share of scrap mechanicals, but this one looked like it was top of the line. The Captain was sure they would’ve been able to take it down in a fight, but they were glad they didn’t have to. Adjutant Akande was a lot of things; cold and cruel perhaps, but they didn’t think she was stupid. Persuading her to stand down wasn’t easy, but they’d done it. Akande knew she was beaten. As the Captain walked down the hallway towards the room where Phineas was being held, they couldn’t help but feel that Akande, in her own twisted way, really _did_ think what she was doing was best for the survival of Halcyon. The Captain couldn’t help but feel maybe they’d changed her mind. Shown her that there was another way, a way to save _everyone._. 

Maybe.

The Captain entered the room where Phineas was, expecting to see Akande still there, but she was gone. A part of them had hoped they would get a chance to exchange a few final words, but it seemed that wouldn’t be the case. They shrugged, going to pick up the key she’d left behind to let Phineas out.

Phineas was fine; shaken, and he would probably have a headache the next day, but he was okay. The Captain helped him back to The Unreliable, taking their time. The fighting in Tartarus had stopped. With the help of Junlei, Zora, and Sanjar’s people, the corporate soldiers hadn’t stood a chance, and the few that were left had stood down on Rockwell’s orders. The Captain wasn’t sure keeping the Chairman alive was the best choice, but it was the choice they had made. There had been enough bloodshed, hadn’t there?

The Unreliable was a welcome sight after tearing through Tartarus. The Captain's crew were waiting just outside the ship for The Captain to return with Phineas. They’d ordered their crew to stay in the docking bay with the Mardets, to keep them all safe. The Captain trusted them in a fight, they'd proven themselves countless times, but dragging them through Tartarus seemed like a risk that wasn’t worth taking. But it was over now. The Captain, with the help of an animated Felix, brought Phineas up to their quarters to let him rest and let Ellie look him over. 

Later, when Phineas was resting and The Unreliable was safely away from Tartarus, there was celebration. The kitchen was alight with a quiet excitement; everything in Halcyon was going to change now. There was work to do, and they all knew it, but what they'd done was _real_ , and it was a start. _The_ start. The Captain abstained from the conversation, just listening as their crew talked. 

Work would start, but it would start tomorrow. They had that night, and no one could take that from them.

* * *

Reviving the colonists was no easy feat, though it was far easier now that the Captain and Phineas weren’t outlaws. With Chairman Rockwell on their side, and MInister Clark no longer on house arrest, they had support as well. It wasn’t just the two of them anymore either. The best minds of Halcyon had gone from working on things like diet toothpaste to finding a way to solve the famine they were faced with. This was a better outcome than Phineas had anticipated, though supplies were still short. It was going to be a long time before things really would improve, but they were sure they would succeed in making a better Halcyon for future generations. 

Of course, it was a bumpy road. Kinks in the plan were to be expected.

The Captain wasn’t a scientist, but they were quick with numbers. The Captain kept meticulous records of the supplies that they had, what they used, and what they needed. Nothing would go to waste if they could help it (and they could). They didn’t trust anyone else to keep records of the supplies they had, and they oversaw _everything_.

The Captain’s precise record-keeping, months later, would lead them to notice when they suddenly had far more supplies than they should have had. They checked to see if there was a shipment that they perhaps had missed, a donation someone had neglected to tell them about, but there was nothing. They checked their numbers over and over again, wondering where they had gone wrong, but ultimately concluded that they hadn’t. Something wasn’t adding up and it _wasn’t_ their fault. There was one person who might know why there was such a heinous discrepancy in their fastidiously-kept records.

“Phineas,” They asked, walking into his lab, “I have a question for you if you’ve got a minute?” Phineas was at the center of all the experimentation that was happening; if he didn’t have a hand directly in it, he kept briefed on it. He would know about any extra materials, and he would know what they were being used for, as well.

“Yes, I suppose I can spare a moment,” He said, looking up from his notes.

“There’re some inconsistencies in my records,” They said, gesturing to a tablet they were holding, “it seems we have more supplies than my records indicate we _should_ have. Do you know if I’ve missed something? Where the supplies came from?” They asked, offering the tablet to Phineas to look over. He read through it briefly but shook his head.

“I don’t think you’ve missed anything. There must’ve been some miscounts with the last delivery.” He said, trying to wave it off.

“There wasn’t. I already checked.”

“Well, it’s not really a big deal, is it? It’s an excess of supplies, surely that’s not a bad thing.” He said, going back to his notes.

“No, but that’s not the point. I need to keep a record of what we have to make sure we’re using everything efficiently. I can’t do that if my counts aren’t right.” They said. They could see Phineas tense up.

“It’s not important where they came from, is it? Just, readjust your count.” He said, sounding agitated. His attitude took them by surprise, but they didn’t want to push. Phineas knew something and didn’t want to say. That was fine. They could find out through other means. Maybe he was right, and where the supplies came from _wasn’t_ important, but now their curiosity was winning out over anything else. They would find out where they came from. Between Parvati and Max's technical know-how, the Captain had learned their way around computers, and they weren’t averse to snooping around. They’d done it often enough.

The Captain only needed to wait for Phineas to go to sleep. There was no telling when that would be, as Phineas was near-addicted to caffenoids, but he did sleep on occasion. That’d be their only chance to get into his terminal with no risk of being caught; once Phineas succumbed to sleep he slept like the dead.

Once they had the chance, they easily hacked Phineas’s terminal. Well, perhaps not _easily_ , but it was within their skill range to hack. They sifted through the messages on the terminal, most of them about the wide array of experimentation that was going on; questions, updates, ideas, things of that nature. They kept scrolling through until one message stood out to them. It’s sender and subject line were empty. It was a blank prompt between other messages. They clicked on it to see what it said, but the message only contained one solitary sentence:

_I hope you’ve made the right decision._

At the bottom of the page, the message was signed _S.A._

The Captain logged off the terminal. 

S.A.

That was the only message out of place. That _had_ to be it. And those initials? Cryptic enough that if someone (like themselves) were to hack Phineas's terminal, no one would be able to figure out who'd sent the message. But the Captain wasn't just anyone. They knew. They’d heard that line before, and they’d heard it from Sophia Akande. She’d said that to them right before she’d disappeared.

They’d wondered what had happened to her. They’d hoped that after everything had settled down that they’d get the chance to talk to her, have her work with them like Rockwell, but she fell off the face of the colony. No one seemed to mind she disappeared, either, except them. The Captain couldn't blame people for wishing the worst on her. So much of the brutality Halcyon had been graced with was entirely her doing. 

But she had _believed_ her way was the only way. They'd hoped If she’d thought there was another way to save the people of Halcyon, she would’ve done it. 

The Captain supposed this was proof enough that Akande wasn't quite as heartless as the people thought. She couldn't allow so many to die if she wasn't absolutely sure it was necessary; if she wasn't sure that the sacrifice would be worth it. And with what little influence she had left, she was sending them _support_.

The Captain left the room, going back to their quarters. They wouldn’t tell Phineas what they knew. Phineas was paying her his respects by keeping quiet and allowing her to fade into obscurity. They wouldn’t disturb that peace. They still hoped they’d get the chance to talk to her again. Sophia Akande had more to her than anyone gave her credit for; she was a whole human being, despite the atrocities that her name was attached to. One conversation was all they wanted, just to see behind the facade. Just to _know_ her, who she really was. But it was too late for that now. She was gone, and she was smart enough that she'd never be found if she didn't want to be.

Maybe in another lifetime.

**Author's Note:**

> Completing the game with Phineas's ending and leaving Akande alive left me with a lot to think about. I just want to know more about her. How she justifies everything she's done. If she really believed it was the only way, or if she enjoyed it just a little _too_ much. I don't know.


End file.
